Sen. Lindsey Graham says it is not the US’s job to decide the next leader of Iran
Sen. Lindsey Graham, RS.C., during an interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press” said that it is not the job of the United States to choose the next leader of Iran and that the US should not put its boots on the ground after the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a series of pre-dawn strikes by US and Israeli forces.
Pressed by President Kristen Welker about whether the US has a plan to ensure that the future of Iran is decided by the Iranian people and that Iran will not be a major state sponsor of terrorism, Graham said this is not up to the Americans.
“It’s not his job or my job to do this,” Graham said. “How many times do I have to tell you? Our job is to make sure that Iran is no longer a major state sponsor of terrorism, so that we can help the people rebuild a new government. There are no boots on the ground.”
Graham said it is in the US’s interests to confirm that Khamenei is dead. President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that Khamenei had been killed in the attack, saying in an interview on Saturday with NBC News that “most” of the decision-makers on Iran were “gone.”
“It is in America’s interest to make sure that Iran can no longer be a major state sponsor of terrorism,” Graham said. “We’re close. Once the people decide what they want to do next, I have no problem helping them, but I know what they won’t be allowed to do next: revive a major state sponsor of terrorism.”
Democrats are divided on how safe the US is now that Khamenei is dead.
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., told “Meet the Press” that he disagreed with Graham, saying the senator “has been wrong all along.”
“Let me say this: Khamenei was a brutal dictator, but the American people are not safe today,” Khanna said.
Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., said in a separate interview on “Meet the Press” that he agreed with Graham’s assessment that the world is safer now that Khamenei is dead. At the same time, Kelly criticized Trump’s posting on Truth Social pointing to his hopes for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and police to “meet peacefully with Iranian Patriots.”
“Hope is not a strategy,” said Kelly. “We have to have a plan here. I mean, what is the goal of the plan, and how do we achieve it?”
Asked if the US could continue the mission without boots on the ground, Kelly said “that’s a big challenge.” Kelly argued during the debate that Iran cannot be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon, but criticized Trump for withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal during his first term.
Graham asserted during his interview that “there will be no American boots on the ground.”
“This is not Iraq. This is not Germany. This is not Japan,” he said. “We will free people from the terrorist regime.”
Graham has been an enthusiastic supporter of the administration’s decision to strike Iran. In a post on X Saturday, Graham called the move “one of the most important military operations in modern history.” In another post, he pointed out that Trump “has become the gold standard of foreign policy success as a Republican president.”
After the strikes, several Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called for a war powers vote to force the administration to seek approval from Congress before engaging in future military action.
Asked if he would vote to support a war resolution, Kelly said he “will have to look at it carefully.”
“I want to hear from the White House when their strategy will continue,” said Kelly. “I would say right now, it’s unlikely that I will be.”
Khanna said on “Meet the Press” that he believes all Democrats will ultimately support a war powers vote. He acknowledged that it might not pass, but said the vote would be “close” and that “we have a few days to get it done.”
“We are at war with Iran,” he said. “We killed their leader. We have over 100 of our fighter jets bombing them. The point of this resolution is, ‘we don’t want another war in the Middle East,’ or at least Congress should talk about that, they should vote on that.”
Across the aisle, Graham criticized European leaders who called for talks after the US and Israeli attacks on Iran, calling them “woefully weak” in a Saturday interview with Fox News.
“To our European friends, you are lost,” he said on Saturday. “You no longer know who you are and what makes you different. You are pathetically weak.”
In the same interview, he pointed out that the calls for talks are “a crime against the Iranian people.”
Graham previously shared similar criticism at X, saying the heads of France, Germany and the United Kingdom were wrong for not helping the Iranian people, and “adding insult to injury, he suggests we should continue to negotiate with religious Nazis.”
